Freshman spirit party welcomes class of 2022

At the Freshman Spirit Party on August 7, incoming freshmen were able to tour the building in a different way than they had in the past. The party consisted of games, exploration, and speakers in an effort to help the new students to become accustomed to high school before the first day.

The event was run by Students Involving & Befriending Students (SIBS), a club whose purpose is to make all students at Mason feel welcome. Incoming senior and SIB Maddie Freels said that SIBS helps freshman feel less anxious about entering high school.

“We make it about the students and not the faculty,” Freels said. “There are kids that come into high school and they’re very scared. It’s nice to be their best friend. You make them feel like a somebody.”

Freels said that a lot of time was put into the spirit party to make sure it ran smoothly.

“A lot of people spend hours upon hours putting in time to figure out how to move each game to each homeroom,” Freels said. “We had 15 games, and each homeroom got 10. We had to work all of that out. There was a lot of planning.”

Some of the activities included face painting, pencil grab, and extreme rock paper scissors. Incoming freshman Abby Walton said that the spirit party provided more excitement than a traditional orientation.

“At the middle school, they would just talk to you and then you would go in separate groups to see your classes,” Walton said. “This year, they actually get you excited about what you’re going to do. They have different games and you get to know different people. They tell you how exciting high school is going to be, you learn about the Black Hole. I feel like it’s more exciting than the past year.”

For Walton, the spirit paty allowed her to become more familiar with the building.

“It makes it easier because then, when you get to school on the first day you’re not as confused as to what’s going to happen or where you’re going to go,” Walton said. “It’s such a big school; you’re not going to think, ‘what’s going on.’ It’s a lot more effective than the older orientations where you just get your schedules, and you just sort of look around. That’s not what happened here.”

Incoming senior and SIB Sierra Bird said that the spirit party was integral to the freshmen’s high school experience.

“These are the people you’re going to be around for the next four years,” Bird said. “Creating bonds before school starts is really helpful and gets everyone comfortable with each other. We wanted to make it run as smoothly as possible.”